


but the seas between us broad have roared

by wethethousands (atlantisairlock)



Category: Birds of Prey (Comic), DCU
Genre: Angst, F/F, Not Canon Compliant, Reunions, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 08:18:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/wethethousands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helena blames New Orleans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	but the seas between us broad have roared

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'auld lang syne' covered by lea michele.

Babs calls them her sisters.

Kate, Lori, Charlie, Renee, Dinah, Barda, Dawn, Infinity, Kendra, all of them. Her and Zinda, too. By default, this means that they are _all_  sisters. Lori violently denies this a lot of the time, for reasons apparent. Helena denies it too, but for another reason altogether. 

It's just... uncomfortable to consider Lady Blackhawk her sister when all she wants to do is pin her up against a wall and kiss her senseless - 

It takes a long time, even though Helena Bertinelli isn't the kind to dance around the proverbial elephant in the room. One time she tells Dinah that she hasn't told Zinda how she feels, and Dinah laughs _very_ loudly and asks when Helena learned to tell jokes until she realises she's serious. Black Canary spends ten minutes telling Hel off questioning where her famous Bertinelli courage went.

But eventually she does summon it up, and it's a welcome surprise when Zinda's lips go pliant against hers and she gets kissed back. 

 

 

Helena blames New Orleans. 

They're flying over with Zinda at the controls as usual, gunning the bad guys down and then suddenly this  _fog_ rolls in, and it's nothing like Helena's ever seen before. She expects to see the same confusion on Zinda's face when she turns to her but her expression just tells of dread and horror and resignation.

"Helena." Zinda says, and it's not her Zinda, it's too raw and stoic. "Helena, get a chute and jump out of here now."

_"What?"_

"You heard me!" She screams at the top of her voice. " _Jump! Now!_ "

She doesn't trust easily; it runs in the Bertinelli blood. It took her ages, when Babs first invited her to become a Bird. It's a skill. It's an asset. 

But with Zinda - 

she trusts Zinda with every fibre of her being.

Helena grabs a chute and jumps.

By the time the fog dissipates, the plane is gone, pilot and all. 

 

 

They search for her; they _do,_ until Babs calls her over to her computer terminal two months later and doesn't say a word; just points to the screen at a list of people who died in service of their country during World War II, black text against an off-white background.

Her throat goes dry when she notices one of the entries, just one of hundreds.

_Zinda Blake. Blackhawk, resistance pilot._

"She went home, Hel." The redhead murmurs, too quiet above the ringing in her ears. "She returned to her own time, where she belonged."

It takes a moment, minutes, a hundred years for Helena to calm her racing heart again, before she takes off to the roof of the building to stand on the ledge and scream, and cry, and fall to her knees.

Outside, the sky is clear and bright. 

 

 

When the gun goes off, Helena doesn't even register where she's been shot. It doesn't even hurt.

They're screaming. They're trying to stop the flow of blood. They're trying to save her. 

Helena wishes they would shut up and move away and let Zinda through. 

Blonde hair, eyes blue-green like the ocean, a hand brushing the hair from her forehead. A smile.

 _Is this it?_ Helena wants to say, but she can't speak, can't force the words past her lips, but she thinks Zinda hears anyway. She nods, presses a kiss to the edge of her mouth. 

 _They will be all right,_ Zinda promises, and Helena thinks of Babs, of Dinah, of the Birds.

She closes her eyes. 

 

 

"Welcome home, Hel."

The fog rolls in.


End file.
